"Food allergy is an abnormal immune response of human immune system to specific foods," said Professor Sun Jinlv. Allergic people will mistake normal and harmless substances for harmful substances, thus producing antibodies. The substances that cause allergies in food are called food allergens or antigens. On September 26, the reporter saw in the Allergy Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital that many allergic patients arrived at 8 o'clock in the morning, and the allergens were varied.

"Food allergy has gradually become one of the prominent problems in food safety and public health emergencies." Professor Sun Jinlv told reporters that the survey data generally reflected the rising global prevalence rate. At present, the prevalence of food allergy in western countries is close to 5% for adults and 8% for children. In the United States, for example, 1 in every 13 children is allergic to food, and an emergency case of food allergy will appear every 3 minutes. Although there is no authoritative statistical data of adult allergy in China, the existing research shows that the prevalence rate of food allergy in children in China is 6.2%, which is much higher than that of general diseases. According to the statistics of the World Health Organization, 22%~25% people in the world suffer from allergic diseases, and the number is increasing year by year, among which food allergy accounts for a large part. According to the report of the World Allergy Organization, 30%~40% people in the world suffer from allergy, and allergy has become the sixth largest disease in the world. 20 16 professor yin Jia, director of allergy department of Peking union medical college hospital and former chairman of allergy branch of Chinese medical association, made a study on severe allergic reaction. It was found that food accounted for 77%, drugs accounted for 7%, insects accounted for 0.6%, and the rest 15% were unknown.

Professor Sun Jinlv said that the overall prevalence of food allergy in China is on the rise for several reasons: 1. Someone died suddenly before, and I didn't know why. Now research has found that food allergy is not rescued in time, which often leads to death. Statistics show that the death caused by allergy has an increasing trend. 2. There are more and more additives in food, such as peanuts, milk and other ingredients, which make people with food allergies easily exposed to allergens. 3. Frequent use of chemicals such as hand sanitizer weakens the protective function of skin mucosa, and people will become more and more allergic. 4. Environmental problems such as the use of plasticizers, smog and automobile exhaust may cause allergic diseases, which is also the reason for more and more allergic reactions including food allergies. Convenient transportation makes people contact with more food that they have never tried, which increases the risk of allergy.

Professor Sun Jinlv emphasized that we must pay attention to food allergy. Mild food allergy can cause Hong Zhou, swelling and itching of lips, swelling and itching of tongue and pharynx, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, blurred vision and other symptoms, while severe food allergy can cause allergic shock symptoms such as tightness of throat, dyspnea, sharp drop of blood pressure and loss of consciousness, which often leads to death if not rescued in time. In addition, food allergies will affect children's growth and quality of life. Children are prone to asthma after food allergy, which increases the risk of children suffering from respiratory allergic diseases. Generally speaking, although food allergy is related to the dose of allergen intake, the threshold of food allergy is very small, even if only a little allergic food is eaten, it has far exceeded the threshold. Moreover, the food allergic reaction time is short, some minutes, some tens of minutes, or even a bite may lead to anaphylactic shock and death.

Eight foods cause 90% food allergies.

According to the report of the World Food and Agriculture Organization, more than 90% of food allergies are caused by eight categories of food, such as milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, soybeans, stone fruits and wheat. Professor Sun Jinlv emphasized: "People with food allergies must pay great attention to their diet. At present, there is no effective treatment for food allergy. Patients can only identify which foods can't be touched and actively avoid eating. "

Professor Sun Jinlv said that peanut allergy is the most important food allergy in western countries, while there are more people who are allergic to milk and eggs in China. Egg allergy ranks first in the prevalence of food allergy in China, and eggs are also the biggest allergen that causes children's allergies. The survey shows that the prevalence rate of egg allergy in China is 3%~4%, far exceeding the prevalence rate of 1% ~ 1.6% in western countries. Milk ranks second, and babies are most susceptible to allergies. Generally speaking, the prevalence of milk allergy is 0-3 years old >: 4~ 17 years old > adults. Some studies show that the prevalence rate of infants under 0 years old in mainland China is 65438 0.3%, while others point out that the prevalence rate of children under 2 years old is 0.83%~3.5%, which is higher than that in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Peanut allergy ranks third, but the prevalence rate of peanut allergy in China is far lower than that in western countries. First, China people came into contact with peanuts relatively late, and children under/kloc-0 basically did not eat peanuts; Second, people in China seldom eat peanut butter; Third, peanuts in our diet are generally cooked or fried, which reduces the allergy of peanuts. In recent years, it has been found that red meat may also cause serious allergic reactions and even shock death. Red meat allergy is related to tick bites. There are reports of red meat allergy caused by tick bites all over the world. Clinical manifestations are urticaria, laryngeal edema, respiratory distress and other symptoms after eating red meat for 3 to 6 hours.

"Food allergy caused by buckwheat, pepper and insects is a unique type in China." Professor Sun Jinlv told reporters: First, buckwheat products are increasingly regarded as health food in China. Buckwheat flour contains no gluten and is usually used as an auxiliary food for patients with abdominal diseases. Many people who are allergic to wheat use buckwheat as an alternative food, so buckwheat food is more popular. Second, locusts, silkworm chrysalis, centipedes and scorpions are special foods in many places in China. The intake of these heterogeneous protein may also cause severe allergic reactions and even death. Third, pepper is allergic. Pepper is a common condiment in China, which is rarely used abroad. In addition, many people in China are allergic to mango, peach, longan, kiwi fruit and litchi.